Pieces Into Place
by writergirl8
Summary: Listening to Percy Jackson singing in person, rather than in the privacy of her own home, is an entirely new experience for Annabeth Chase. His voice soaks into her skin, and she can picture his sheepish smile from where she stands backstage, waiting to go on. Percy is known for that ridiculous, awkward smile. When people tell him that, he usually just smiles even more awkwardly.


**A/N: Hannah (ananbeth) convinced me that this was a good idea, so if it sucks, blame her. It actually didn't turn out as I planned, but I still really like it. Thank you to Ashley for beta reading, and to Taylor Swift for existing/inspiring the title. ~writergirl8**

There are three albums on her iPod with the name "Percy Jackson" in the artist category. His first, third, and fourth ones, actually, because he released the second after he had blown to the tops of the charts and the studio was desperate to keep him there. But he'd taken full creative control over his third and fourth albums, and that's why Annabeth loves them so much. She spends all day listening to the "pump up" music of the iGeneration, and when she comes home, all she wants to do is pour a glass of red wine and let acoustic music float through the speakers that are fastened to the walls in her apartment.

Listening to him singing in person, rather than in the privacy of her own home, is an entirely new experience. His voice soaks into Annabeth's skin, and she can picture his sheepish smile from where he stands on stage- he's known for that ridiculous, awkward smile, and when people tell him that, he just smiles even more awkwardly. He's singing Annabeth's favorite song from the third album, but he's playing a guitar version of it because they wouldn't let him wheel an enormous piano onto the stage. He could have done it to a track, but Annabeth has never seen Percy Jackson singing without his own accompaniment. Despite his status as a chart-topping musician, his sold-out shows always have a tiny, intimate feel to them, no matter how large the audience. He doesn't put on a show; he just immerses himself in the music. She's seeing that tonight.

"Annabeth, you're up now," says a guy with a headset, click his pen to cross something off. Annabeth smiles, even though he's already turned away.

"Thanks," she says, then closes her eyes and jumps up and down twice to get some energy. She adjusts her costume, then counts to ten and plasters an appropriately-sized smile onto her face. It used to take longer for her to psych herself into going out on stage, but she's been doing this since she was fifteen. It's second nature by now, and that's why it's easy to pump her legs to the beat of the music and feel the beat of it in her heels.

This particular song doesn't have anything but Jackson's guitar and his voice; the set is minimalist, with large, looming shadows of trees covering the pixelated floor and gracefully swooping weeping willows looming over Annabeth's head. All of them are fake, handmade, but that doesn't stop this set from being Annabeth's favorite. The costume to go with it is her favorite as well, with the intricately embroidered and beaded bra, both her favorite color. She's got dark green panties to match the green bra, and her heels and wings are white. Annabeth truly does feel like a fairy, and even though she has spent most of her life actively trying to not get caught up in this lifestyle, she does allow herself to sink into the moment. And she's fine, too, until Percy Jackson turns to her as she passes him and offers her a sheepish smile, as though asking her if he's doing okay. Annabeth starts to laugh at how wide his eyes are, and how they're not daring to wander anywhere below her chin.

God forbid he see the tops of her breasts. It's not like the rest of the world has, right?

She's the last Angel left on the catwalk, and she feels like she's ruined the entire thing because, after sharing one silly moment with Percy Jackson, her model pout is officially gone. Annabeth slips off her shoes as soon as the set is finished, groaning and massaging her heel slightly before she walks back into the dressing room, where the other Victoria's Secret Angels are preparing themselves for the next and final set.

"You're _beaming_," Piper points out, poking Annabeth in the side as she passes. She's wearing a bright red bra and panty set, and the beads on her breasts glimmer in the soft glow of the dressing room. "Why? You know this is only the dress rehearsal, right? We can't eat pasta until tomorrow night."

At the mention of the word pasta, Annabeth lets out a mournful groan before shooting a glare at her roommate. They always share a hotel room for their photoshoots around the world, and they tend to take great pleasure in teasing each other about carbohydrates. Annabeth is 95% certain that, 24 hours from now, they will be home from the after-party, very buzzed and shoving linguini with alfredo into their mouths.

The other 5% says that Piper is going to be getting laid. She's exotic and beautiful, with skin that glows no matter what she's wearing. If either of them are going to be using the room for purposes other than eating or sleeping, it's Piper. Annabeth is the "girl-next-door" angel, hired to seem attainable to the masses. She's never been allowed to be anything but safe, sweet, and sexy- the blond hair that curls into springs around her waist is anything but edgy. The only unusual thing about Annabeth's appearance is her eyes, and she's heard about their beauty from so many photographers that she's starting to resent them.

When she was first starting out, Annabeth's biggest trouble had been getting her eyes to look warm and welcoming. All she'd wanted to do was close herself off from what was going on in front of her, from the flashbulbs and the men and the other girls prancing around in lingerie. But her photos had seemed cold and calculating, and so Annabeth had forced herself to learn to lift the shade over her eyes and create a look of warmth within the cold gray.

After that, she was kind of unstoppable.

"Hey, Jackson!" calls Piper, and Annabeth whips around just a little too quickly. "You're gonna crash into Lexi's fikus."

He's got a hand over his eyes, trying to shield himself from the 42 girls in their underwear.

"Sorry!" he says as he switches directions and collides with a half-naked Angel, who is trying not to laugh at his predicament. "Shit! Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

Hailee ducks as Percy spins around, narrowly avoiding getting hit by his guitar.

"Whoa there, cowboy," Piper says, walking up to him and removing a hand from his eye. "It's okay. We're all girls here."

"I think he can see that," calls a model from somewhere in the room, and everyone whoops in enjoyment.

The truth is, they're all so used to seeing each other in their underwear that it doesn't really matter. They're all hot, they all look good naked, and none of them really care anymore. When Annabeth had first started out, her reactions in the dressing room had been more along the vein of Percy, purposefully avoiding all breasts. But now she can strip in front of anyone and she doesn't bat an eyelash.

"I'm so sorry," Percy says again, his eyes wide. "I just have to get through to the other room- my set's done and I-"

"Hang out back here for a while," Piper says easily, grabbing Percy on the arm and tugging him towards her and Annabeth's chairs. Quickly, Annabeth turns away and begins patting her sweaty cheeks with powder foundation, trying to make herself look less… _dewey_. While Piper and Percy had hit it off immediately, he hadn't been able to look at Annabeth for the first few hours that he'd been backstage before the show, and he'd barely said two words to her the entire time.

She's used to it. They meet talented people all the time, and sometimes, those celebrities disappoint them by being rude or aloof. Annabeth doesn't know why Percy Jackson's indifference is making her cringe.

"Hey, I'm sorry," says a male voice, more quiet now, and Annabeth looks up from her makeup table to see Percy looking determinedly at the ground, his cheeks bright red.

"For what?" she asks.

"I, um, nudged your chair slightly with my leg."

Annabeth and Piper exchange amused glances.

"Is this the first time you've ever seen a half-naked woman?" Piper asks, and Percy's eyes shoot up to her, his mouth dropping open slightly.

"I- what?"

"It's just… you're kind of _virginal_," Piper says pointedly. She shrugs at the look of horror on Percy's face.

"Shit, I'm not a virgin! I just don't think that I should be looking at your-!"

"Why not?" questions Annabeth frankly. "Everybody else does."

"That's what we're here for," Piper points out, reaching down into her bra and adjusting her breasts. Percy's face remains unchanged. "Oh, hey, Annabeth, you need tape."

When Piper leans over and starts using the double-sided tape to secure Annabeth into her bra, Percy lets out a squeak and turns bright red.

"Well, I gotta go!" he says, backing up and colliding with one of the younger models. She lets out a squeak at almost the same timber as Percy's was, sending Annabeth and Piper into fits of giggles. "See you guys naked. Oh, shit, _I mean later. _Later. See you guys later."

Piper is still giggling as she twiddles her fingers in Percy's direction, shaking her head.

"You just know that kid is a momma's boy."

"_Such _a momma's boy!" Annabeth agrees, putting an earring into her left ear.

"And I happen to know that you've got quite the taste for momma's boys, Annabeth Chase."

"Well I happen to know that you've got quite the taste for Jason, so if you antagonize me about it, I'll _tell_."

Piper knows that Annabeth is kidding, but her mouth still drops open in indignance.

"You wouldn't!"

"I've known Jason since I was a kid!" Annabeth simpers, her voice mock innocent. "It's _so _difficult to keep things from him.

Piper claps a hand onto her shoulder and moves in very close.

"I will kill you," she says, slowly and clearly, grinning all the while.

"You do know where I sleep."

"I do. Best to keep it on the down-low, in that case."

Piper bops Annabeth on the nose and heads out to the stage. She's in the beginning of the next, and last, set. Annabeth is more towards the middle, so she has a bit of time. Still, she allows her hair to be fluffed by some of the people that are hired to keep the models looking perfect and continues to fix her makeup. By the time she's on stage, winking at the nonexistent audience, and back off, Annabeth is more than ready for the after-party.

"We probably shouldn't drink too much," Piper notes, zipping up the side of her skin tight red dress. At home, the both of them prefer to walk around in leggings and giant sweatshirts. But they've spent enough time in this business to know that they have an image that they need to project in order to continue being successful in this career. "We have a long day tomorrow."

"We can sleep until eleven, though," Annabeth recalls, thinking of their itinerary. Sleeping in is encouraged, and they're going to be out so late the next night. As she steps into her turquoise dress, Annabeth considers all of the things she would rather be doing than going out tonight. Studying, for one, because she's in her junior year of college alongside all of this pandemonium. And reading, for another, because Annabeth started a book on the plane- much to the chagrin of Piper- and she hasn't been able to stop thinking about it all night.

Except, of course, when she was thinking about Percy Jackson. Who is currently seated in the corner, looking painfully awkward as several models tease him and make fun of him for the bright red blush that is staining his cheeks. Annabeth has never seen anybody react quite this strongly to a pushup bra before. It makes her smile, too- the idea that there's someone left in the world who thinks that it's not his _right _to stare at her body just because it's there.

She used to think that too. Now she knows it to be untrue. Bodies are just bodies; they have no connection to the soul or even to sex. Sex, for Annabeth, has always derived from intimacy, and that's why she's never connected lingerie modelling to it.

"Ready to go?" Piper calls out to Percy, waving him over with a hand, and he practically catapults his body away from the other girls as he goes to approach Piper and Annabeth.

"They keep calling me Mary," he mumbles to Annabeth as she sticks an earring through the hole in her ear. "Are you getting why?"

"The virgin Mary," she says, once again finding her chest opening up at the innocence of his predicament. "They're calling you virginal."

"But I'm not a-!"

"We know," Piper says, sounding sympathetic for the first time. "It's just, we're all desensitized to this stuff, and the fact that it freaks you out makes us laugh."

"I'm sure any guy would-"

"No," Annabeth says, cutting him off shortly. "Most guys don't react like you do."

The three of them are silent for a moment, looking at each other. Finally Piper says, "Jason used to be, but then he started hanging out with us backstage all the time," and turns around to lead the other two out of the dressing room. The after-party is close enough to the event that they can walk; as they enter the atrium, Percy tucks his signature messy black hair into a knit cap and puts on thick framed black glasses.

"Do you actually need those?" Annabeth asks curiously. She's got a black peacoat wrapped tightly around her body and the silver buttons are fastened so that they can accentuate her waist. In her heels, she's equal in height to Percy, but she feels older than him, somehow. More world weary.

"Actually, yes," Percy says, smirking as he holds the door open for Annabeth. She lets out a startled gasp at how cold the air is. "I usually wear contacts, but I don't like to be able to see the crowd when I'm performing, and since I don't do any dancing, it isn't usually a problem. I'm _just _blind enough that not wearing my glasses helps to calm me down."

"You're like Superman," teases Annabeth, bouncing slightly in the cold. Slightly ahead of them, Piper's fingers fly across her iPhone screen, ignorant of anyone passing her on the street. When she lets out a tiny laugh, Annabeth knows that she's texting Jason, telling him that he can meet them at the restaurant.

"I wish I was as smooth as Superman," says Percy, his voice good-natured, but Annabeth can hear something underneath it and wonders whether she's supposed to pry. Before she can decide, Piper has spun around and announced that Jason will be at the restaraunt in an hour. "Jason?" asks Percy.

"My best friend from growing up," Annabeth tells him. "He lived across the street. Now he's a polysci major at George Washington University, but he likes to follow us around like a lost puppy and pretend that each place we go to is an educational experience."

"He writes essays and everything," Piper adds on, almost glowing, and Annabeth nudges Percy in the side as she turns back to her phone and laughs loudly at something on the screen.

"Piper has a crush on him," she informs Percy needlessly, wiggling her eyebrows. He laughs easily, and Annabeth likes that about him; likes that he doesn't need to contain himself or to fake a polite laugh in order to interact with her. He's been shy all night, but away from all of the girls in their panties, he seems to be lifting himself out of his shell.

"Why doesn't she just go for it?" he asks, glancing over at Piper. She's still texting Jason, lost in the blue light of her phone. "Does she get the fact that she's a Victoria's Secret model and can have any man in the world?"

Annabeth watches her breath puff through the air a few times before she answers.

"This job… it's fun, and an amazing opportunity… but sometimes it can mess you up psychologically."

"How so?"

His green eyes are gazing at Annabeth so intently that, for the first time, she feels like looking down at the ground just to avoid the intensity of his gaze. He isn't supposed to look at her like this; _nobody_ looks at Annabeth like this. The last time someone had, she'd ended up in a relationship that lasted too long and ended too disastrously. But she likes Percy; can feel him crawling underneath her skin and actually, genuinely getting to her.

She doesn't think that it's just because of his music. She thinks it's because he's paying attention to what she's saying, and looking into her eyes, and he's got messy black hair and glasses that are too big for his face and he smells like an aftershave that Annabeth wants to take baths in.

"If you stick around tonight, maybe I'll tell you," she says cheerfully, breaking the spell. Percy blinks twice, surprised, but then he lets a slow grin crawl across his face.

"Do you want me to stick around?"

And Annabeth just nods, which makes his smile get wider, and then Piper is throwing open the door to the restaurant and the three of them are sitting at a table by themselves, sipping on beers while waiting for Jason to arrive.

He does so at the worst time; when Piper has gone to get more drinks and is talking to a tall, blond man, touching his arm and laughing too loudly at what he's saying. Jason drops into the seat across from Percy and doesn't even say anything as he watches the exchange take place, his brow furrowed.

"What does she see in these guys?" he wonders out loud, but Annabeth doesn't say anything, just reaches across the table to wrap her fingers around his and squeeze. They've talked about this before. Jason knows why Piper doesn't want to be with him. He knows, and it's not his fault, but that doesn't make it hurt less.

When Piper moves away from the man to grab their second set of beers, Jason shakes his head, as if to clear it, and turns around. As his eyes land on Percy, they open wide in surprise and he shoots a befuddled glance towards Annabeth.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he says slowly, "but I'm pretty sure that dude is Percy Jackson."

"Pretty sure you're right," Percy says, offering Jason a hand. "Hey, man."

"Hey," says Jason gamely. "I loved your last album. The duets were insane."

"Thanks," Percy says, tilting his beer in the direction of Jason. "They were really fun to record, so it's great to hear that people enjoy them."

"Percy is playing the show tomorrow night," Annabeth reminds Jason, tapping the palm of his hand with her finger to get his attention, but it's already gone, as Piper has just slid into the seat next to him.

"Right!" he says, snatching the beer that Piper had gotten for herself out of her grasp and bringing it to his own lips. She lets out an indignant gasp and tugs at his arm, trying to get him to give it back, but Jason just grins around the bottle and smacks his lips when he's done.

"You're such a goober," Piper says maturely as Jason pushes his glasses up his nose and slides the bottle back towards her.

Percy whistles lowly.

"Damn. Haven't heard goober in a while," he says to Annabeth as Piper and Jason begin to tear up paper napkins and through the pieces at each other.

"Well, as you can see, its comeback is one of pompous austerity," says Annabeth, rolling her eyes as Piper lets out a shriek when a piece of napkin lands inside of her beer.

"Jason!" she groans.

"You started it!"

Annabeth sighs and hits her head on the back wall.

"When we were kids, I couldn't even get him to play house with historically inaccurate props. Now he's having napkin wars in public and saying stuff like 'you started it.'"

They actually start to have a good time after Annabeth finally manages to get her two best friends to behave. With Percy sitting next to her, his thigh brushing up against hers under the table, she feels warm and content in a way that has nothing to do with alcohol. He makes stupid puns, and he keeps shooting her these smiles that make her toes curl, and he'll apologize whenever he slightly nudges into her, which, considering the fact that he is an internationally renowned musician, is just ridiculous.

Also, Annabeth has never seen Jason warm up to anybody as quickly. Piper is looking a little abandoned, actually, until she finally manages to get Jason's attention by tickling him in the side. As the two of them begin to have a full-on tickle war, Percy nudges Annabeth softly. She's expecting another apology, but when she turns to see him looking at her hopefully, she knows that he did it on purpose this time.

"Hey," he says. "You, uh, wanna go somewhere else?"

Annabeth tries not to pay attention to the way her heart has just started beating faster.

"Um, yes," she agrees, summoning all of her model-courage to get herself to smile at him.

Guys don't usually make her feel this off-balanced, but as Annabeth gets out of her chair and snorts at the fact that Jason and Piper haven't even noticed the two of them get up, she tries to tell herself to just do it. That it isn't a bad thing that looking at Percy gives her _actual _butterflies and _actual _sweaty palms.

She isn't sure where he's about to take her, but she doesn't end up finding out.

"Mister Jackson!" roars a voice, causing Percy to turn around. "Your performance tonight was phenomenal.

"Thank you kindly, sir," Percy says to the older gentleman. Annabeth recognizes him as the editor of some fancy magazine, although she's not sure which. They all run together at this point. She can just tell, from the quality of his clothes and the way his stomach is bulging against his buttons, that it's a snobby one.

"I have a few people I'd love for you to meet," the gentleman says. "Would you mind?"

Percy glances helplessly back at Annabeth, who shrugs at him, not sure what to do.

"Oh… ah… I'd love to sir," he says, biting his lower lip.

"Wonderful!" says the fat-cat, and Annabeth feels her heart start beating faster when she sees Percy stare at her while he is being led away.

"You like him," says Jason, who is, once more, by himself at the table. Piper is on the phone somewhere in the corner, her finger in her ear, her head nodding rhythmically.

"Everyone likes him," Annabeth says flatly, taking a swig of beer. She doesn't even like beer, but she can't drink anything harder tonight, so she might as well drink something.

"But he likes you, and he doesn't like _everyone_."

Picking up Jason's fork, Annabeth scrutinizes his salad carefully before spearing some lettuce and a piece of chicken. He doesn't say anything, instead choosing to stare at her earnestly and let her eat.

"He's just being nice."

"He hasn't stopped staring at you the entire night," Jason says. "Look, he's staring at you right now."

Annabeth looks up quickly, her eyes finding Percy faster than she would care to admit. He is indeed stealing glances at her and Jason's table.

"He thinks that I'm pretty because I'm a model," Annabeth decides, feeling moody for the first time. Something like dread settles in her stomach at her words. They're not an excuse- she believes them. She leans on them, just like Piper leans on the idea that Jason won't be able to be with her because of what she does. It protects them. "Societal standards have told him that I'm supposed to be the definition of what he wants in a mate. That's why he's looking at me. He thinks I'm pretty because I model fancy underwear."

"You _are _pretty," Jason points out, pointedly ignoring the latter part of her statement. "You just are. It's a fact that we've always known, Annabeth. Two-plus-two equals four and the sun is gold and Annabeth Chase is beautiful."

She thinks of sixteen-year-old Jason feeling furious at Annabeth for how much she's given in to the idea of being a model, always obsessed with protecting her and making sure that she was reaching her full potential. She thinks of her insistence that she was doing it for herself, and the look on Jason's face when he had finally understood _why_. She thinks about the way he looks at Piper and the way Piper looks at him and the way Annabeth's other boyfriends have looked at her.

A long time ago, she decided that Jason and Piper were going to be the only constants in her life.

But it's just a crush. A stupid, meaningless crush that Annabeth has because she likes the way Percy sings, and likes the way his fingers look as they play soundless piano parts on the table. He's got beautiful green eyes and a soft, scratchy voice that has always made Annabeth's head spin, but that doesn't mean he's worth disrupting her life for. She has a plan; there's a reason that she lives the way she does. And now that she's almost ready to actually begin her real life, Annabeth doesn't need an added distraction of a _crush_.

"I… I should go," she says, abruptly standing up.

"Hey, that's not fair," Jason tells her, grabbing her elbow as Annabeth starts to make a break for the exit. "You have to give the guy a chance to run after you."

Annabeth shakes her head, already doing up the buttons on her coat.

"No," she says brusquely. She tries to twist Jason's fingers off of her elbow, but he holds on. "_Jason_." He just stares at her, waiting. "Jason, he's looking at me like he could actually fall for me. I don't want to deal with that. So I'm going back to the hotel."

Although Jason's eyes remain laser-focused on Annabeth's for several seconds, he relinquishes his grip without complaint.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he says finally. "You're doing _exactly _what you keep yelling at Piper about."

"It's not the same," Annabeth mutters, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone- anything to distract her from looking up at Percy as she walks out. She doesn't want to see his face. "You two are best friends. I just met Percy twelve hours ago. I have no reason to trust him."

"You have no reason _not _to trust him." It's such an un-Jason statement that Annabeth sets her phone down to stare pointedly at him. "What? I like the guy. He seems cool. His fourth album _gets _me."

Annabeth rolls her eyes.

"Okay," she says, swooping down to kiss Jason on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well."

"Yeah, you too."

Annabeth gets a cab back to the hotel, and as she leans against the cold window, she finds herself grateful for the relative silence that the car offers. The only sound is the light hum of the engine and the soft purr of some old Beatles song on the radio, turned down low so that only the cabbie can make out the words. Normally, Annabeth would take out her phone and scroll through the flashcard app on her iPhone in quiet moments like these, or at least scroll through twitter for a distraction, but, in the deafening silence, she's starting to realize how long it's been since she was alone.

The quiet is welcome until a Percy Jackson song comes on the radio.

Even though Annabeth is pretty sure it's a sign from whatever higher deity is probably up there laughing at her right now, she just quietly asks the cabbie to turn his radio up and listens to Percy sing a love song about some girl he met when he was young. Then she remembers a joke he made earlier, the one about writing love songs about New York when he couldn't get inspiration from girls, and the more Annabeth listens to the lyrics, the more they make her laugh. For all these years, the damn media has been trying to figure out who this song is for. And it's about goddamn Central Park.

As soon as Annabeth enters her hotel room, she decides that she just wants to go to sleep. It's one o'clock in the morning, she has to be awake as late, if not later, tomorrow night. So she scrubs off her makeup, purposefully putting her iPhone on an acoustic album that she likes so it doesn't play Percy's music while it's on shuffle. She wonders if she's going to hate his music after tonight. That would really, really suck.

The soft Brown University hoodie that Annabeth shrugs on feels wonderful against her skin after hours of wearing nothing but a bra and underwear, her skin constantly breaking out into gooseflesh at the cool air. Annabeth tugs her pink pajama bottoms on and tosses her hair into a messy bun at the top of her head, not caring about the pieces that tumble around her face. The sloppier the bun is, the better. Looking like this is _easy_. It doesn't require a makeup team or a hair team or professional tape just to keep her breasts snugly cupped into her bra. Hell, she's not even wearing a bra right now.

She settles into bed, fuzzy socks and all, and picks up the book that she started on the plane, engrossing herself in the characters and reveling in the soft flannel sheets on her double bed. The main character has just realized that she's travelled back in time when there's a knock on the door. Annabeth frowns. That's definitely not Piper. Piper wouldn't knock. Piper would tell her to get the hell out so that she could use the room to fuck a guy who looked suspiciously similar to Jason.

Not in those words, exactly, but the gist is there.

Annabeth gets out of the bed, already missing her sheets, and crosses the room to the door. When she opens it, she is unsurprised to find Percy standing on the other side of it. Unsurprised, and definitely not disappointed.

"Uh… yeah."

"Jason told you to come after me."

"Actually, no. That was all me."

Annabeth frowns, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms over her chest. She thinks about the fact that she is not wearing a bra and then she thinks about the fact that she does not care.

"I do like a guy that takes initiative."

She wishes that she could be the calm, confident woman that she usually is when she's talking to guys. That's when the persona usually kicks in- Annabeth Chase, girl-next-door who likes sports and always seems to be in the photoshoots that take place in a classroom or library. She's confident and put together yet sweet and kind. And then she opens the door to Percy and she can't seem to gather up any of the more cloying parts of herself; she just wants to show him how _human _she is. Annabeth Chase- the real one- isn't a manifestation is a PR Rep's imagination.

"Oh, okay," Percy nods, as though Annabeth is instructing him. "Um, yeah, so...initiative. Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Like?"

"Like… the roof?"

Annabeth wrinkles her nose.

"It's freezing cold and probably locked."

Percy looks downtrodden.

"Right. You're logical."

"I know," she replies, quirking a small smile. "Not a quality you'd generally assign to a model, huh?"

Annabeth watches him carefully, waiting for his reaction, but Percy's face doesn't change. He responds quickly, scuffing his foot on the floor as he says,

"You wouldn't expect a professional performer to hate dancing, but here I am. Existing. We're all just people, Annabeth."

She hesitates.

"You hate dancing?"

Percy nods emphatically.

"Why do you think I always have an instrument on stage with me? It's not because I think I look good holding a guitar."

Her eyes are sparkling with mischief as she says, "You do look good holding a guitar, though."

Percy startles.

"I… I do?"

"You do, yes."

He stares at her.

"So… not the roof," he says after a few moments, tracing the words carefully with his tongue. He bites his lip when he finishes saying "roof," and Annabeth almost keels over. "Okay, what about-?"

"One of the ballrooms," Annabeth says shortly. "There's nobody in them at this time of night, and we can talk without being interrupted. It's not as public as the lobby, so if there are any lurking reporters, they won't see you and begin rumors about you and I."

Percy Jackson brightens visibly, his posture straightening as he full-out beams at Annabeth.

"Really?"

"Two conditions." He nods in agreement. "I haven't told you what they are yet!"

"I agree to hear your terms, that's all."

"Number one: you have to go put on your pajama bottoms. I'm not changing and I'm not going to be the only one who's in pajamas."

"Done," says Percy promptly.

"Number two," Annabeth continues, talking over him, "you have to promise not to fall in love with me." His smile slips. "Ha. Just kidding. That's a line from _A Walk To Remember_. No, number two, you have to be okay with the fact that I'm not going to put on a bra for you."

"Will you put on a bra for me if I fall in love with you?" It's Annabeth's turn to stare. "What? You can make those jokes and I can't?"

"I'll meet you down there," she says, quirking an eyebrow before closing the door to her hotel room. She stares at the empty white door, wondering exactly how she's going to do this. She feels connected to this man- boy, really. He acts like a boy, and maybe that's why she likes him so much. Annabeth is twenty-one years old and she's been in the buisness since she was a teenager. Between that and having _Jason _as a best friend, Annabeth had never really been able to feel like a kid.

But then Percy Jackson had walked into a conference room at 8 o'clock yesterday morning, introduced himself to all the Victoria's Secret Angels, and sat down next to Piper and Annabeth to listen to a rundown of how the day was going to go. And somewhere between realizing that he chews citrus gum instead of the usual mint and likes to play drum beats on his knees, Annabeth had realized that he is _always _a kid. Always free to make bad puns and blush at gratuitous bra-wearing and just, generally, unapologetically be himself. In a world in which everybody constantly seems to be faking some aspect of herself, Annabeth finds him unwaveringly fascinating.

So when she sneaks downstairs and opens the door into the smallest ballroom, Annabeth isn't even surprised. She isn't surprised (surprisingly enough) that she is taking a risk because she doesn't want to go to sleep; doesn't want to miss out on knowing him. She ignores the dread in her stomach and dedicates her nervous energy to searching along the walls for a light switch. When she finally finds one, she is pleased to say that there's a piano in the corner of the massive ballroom, shoved up against the wall, almost as if it's an afterthought. Silently, Annabeth walks to the center of the dance floor, her fuzzy socks sliding against the slippery wood. She stares at the piano as she takes her seat right there in the middle of the floor, and then she waits for Percy to stumble through the door and say something stupid that makes her smile.

He doesn't disappoint.

(She's starting to wonder if he ever disappoints.)

"Pretty sure my pajamas are cooler than yours," he says when he walks in, striking a goofy pose.

"I have known you for less than twenty-four hours," Annabeth announces as Percy closes the heavy door to the ballroom, "and you have gone from being painfully shy around me and making me think that you don't like me to making me laugh so hard I _snorted_."

"You thought I didn't like you?" he asks, ignoring the latter part of her sentence. Annabeth starts to nod emphatically, then stops as her eyes catch what Percy is wearing. He's got on plaid pajama bottoms and a _Doctor Who_ t-shirt, his thick framed glasses slipping down his nose as he looks at her incredulously.

"You… you were avoiding me," Annabeth points out, her answer robotic as she simply stares at the tiny TARDIS that is stretched across his defined chest.

Wrinkling his nose, Percy starts walking closer to her, his eyes on Annabeth's all the way across the dance floor.

"Some people aren't so good at talking to girls that they're insanely attracted to," he tells her, knitting his brows together as he says it. "And I can't believe I just told you that I'm attracted to you. Shit."

Annabeth doesn't respond, instead choosing to reach out and grab his left hand with both of her hands, which are dangling down awkwardly. When she pulls on them twice, Percy sits down on the floor in front of her and crosses his knees until they are pressed against her own crossed knees, plaid against plaid.

"I forgive you," says Annabeth impishly, bopping him on the nose, and Percy groans out loud.

"Not exactly the reaction you want when you say that to a girl."

"Well, I barely know you," whispers Annabeth, moving in closer to him and tilting her head to the side. "It would be awfully presumptuous of me to move too quickly."

Their lips are about to meet when Percy pulls back, causing Annabeth to let out a frustrated grunt.

"Okay, what was that?" she asks. "Seriously, I've wanted to do that since I was sixteen."

He quirks a brow.

"What?"

As soon as she has realized what she said, Annabeth claps a hand over her mouth and widens her eyes. She'd definitely had a crush on Percy when he had first become famous and they had both been teenagers, but it hadn't been prevalent in years, to the point that she had let the silly thought loiter in the back of her mind even when she'd met him earlier in the day.

"Okay, can I take that back?"

They're both bright red, staring at each other with open mouths and flushed cheeks. Annabeth's heart is pounding in her ears, and she thinks that she's going to vomit as she watches several emotions flit over Percy's face. Finally, he settles on _calm_. Which is, of course, not helping her read him.

"Answer one question," Percy says, his voice contained. "Did you ever have a poster of me in your room?"

"No!" Annabeth says quickly. "I mean, my roommate in college did, but I moved out after one semester because she was stealing my stuff, and after that… _no_."

"Was I, at any point, the screensaver on your cell phone?"

"Nope," Annabeth answers. "Jeez. Big head, much?"

Percy holds his hands up. "Just trying to get a feel for how in love with me you are."

"Ugh, I'm _not_! I just like your music and seem to act like a regular person around you as opposed to who I usually pretend to be around famous people. And that's it, I swear."

She's getting upset now, because she _doesn't _act like this; has never developed an interest in any of the people that she's met when on the job. And Annabeth, over the course of the evening, has started to realize that she likes Percy for the bits and pieces that she's learning about him, not the stuff that she knew before tonight. Before tonight, he wasn't real to her. And now, he's so real that she's worried they're about to destroy something that could be so, _so _good.

"Okay, hang on," he says. "Annabeth. I'm teasing you. Badly, I see."

She punches him on the arm.

"Your sense of humor _blows_."

"I just… I think this could be _something_, you know, and I want to know more about you because I'm kind of getting this weirdly massive crush on you, and I want to know where I stand with you. I don't think you realize how incredible I think you are… and that's totally my fault, by the way, because I think I have all these assumptions about you that aren't true and now I need to figure out who you actually are, just like you need to muddle your way through the the shit you think you know about me."

Annabeth licks her bottom lip, giving herself exactly that long before she responds to him.

"That's… _fair_," she says tentatively. "But you're going on tour after tomorrow night and I'm going back to school. I don't think this is going much of anywhere."

It's an excuse, and she's deterring him purposefully to deflect him, but Percy doesn't seem phased. He reaches behind himself and grabs something from the floor, then shows Annabeth an unopened package of Reese's Pieces.

"So we streamline the process," he says simply, opening the bag and offering it to Annabeth. "Answer a question and you get to eat one. If you pass, I eat yours, and vice versa."

"You're a five-year-old."

"See, you're already learning so much about me! That is 100-percent true. "

She gestures for him to pick up a piece of candy. He does.

"Why didn't you kiss me?" Annabeth asks. "You dork," she tacks on at the end, just in case Percy doesn't know that it's implied.

He pops the candy into his mouth.

"You don't seem like the kind of person that likes to rush into stuff, and neither am I. Today already feels like it's going by really fast. I just wanted to… I dunno… learn more about you. I know that I like you, and that I'm attracted to you, but I don't know… why you came a model, or what your favorite song is, or what your mom's maiden name is."

She snorts.

"My mom's maiden name? Do you also want my social security number?"

"I absolutely do, but we'll get to that portion later in the game."

Reaching into the bag, Annabeth feels around for two candies.

"My favorite song is that piano crossover of Love Story and Viva La Vida," she says. "I prefer piano music when I study, and I'm basically either studying or working all the time, so the music that I study to is my favorite kind of music."

"And the career choice?"

"It's not my career," Annabeth says firmly. "It's my… summer job."

"Elaborate." He goes to eat a candy even though it isn't his turn, but Annabeth bats his hand away. He pouts. She ignores him.

"Okay, so my mom had some associates from work who used to come over and have dinner with us a few times a year. And one day, when I was fifteen, one of her clients noticed that I was tall, thin, and blond, which is pretty much what he was looking for. He asked me to do a modelling event for him in a few weeks, I told him that he was crazy, and then he showed me what my paycheck would look like."

"So you're in it for the money?"

"Absolutely I'm in it for the money. People who worked in higher places spotted me and started hiring me. At first, I was just doing it for pocket money. But, when Victoria's Secret approached me… well. I was already in college. I already knew how expensive it was. My mom is an affluent woman, but I've never had a good relationship with her, and I'm stubborn enough that the idea of being financially independant was appealing."

"You don't like your mom?" He looks totally unsettled. "God, that must be terrible."

Annabeth starts to smile.

"I'm guessing you have a good relationship with your mom?"

He raises both of his eyebrows before nodding vigorously.

"Let's put it this way," he says. "You know the song 'Yours'?"

"Sure."

"It's 'bout my mom."

Annabeth's mouth falls open.

"That's disgusting!" she says, starting to scoot away from him. Percy grabs her feet and tugs her back.

"Annabeth," he says, laughter in his voice. "Think _really _carefully about those lyrics. Just… think for a second. Humor me."

She closes her eyes and starts to play the song in her head, moving her lips along to the lyrics as she goes through the song. Halfway through the second verse, she starts to smile.

"Oh," she says.

"Nothing romantic about that song," Percy says, letting go of her ankles. "The media's been desperately trying to figure out who it's about for _two _years, and it's just a thank you to my mom for raising me."

He picks up a candy and places it pointedly on his tongue.

"So far you've told me that you write your love songs about New York City and your mom. Do you ever actually write them about… you know. Women?"

Annabeth means to tease him, but she thinks that the lilt in her voice might give away her genuine curiosity.

"I do," he says, nodding seriously as he throws an entire handful of Reese's Pieces into his mouth. "I don't really casually date that much, given the profession, so I usually have a lot to write about."

"I don't either," admits Annabeth. "But for you, I think it's about being burned, and for me it's about… time. And other stuff. I guess."

"The same stuff as Piper?"

Some of her hair falls out of her bun as Annabeth shakes her head. Percy picks up a piece and tugs on it, which makes Annabeth smile.

"Piper thinks that Jason won't be able to handle other guys seeing her naked all the time."

"_Naked_?"

"You know what I mean."

"And for you, the problem is…?"

"For me, the problem is that I can never tell who likes me because of my body and who likes me because he genuinely thinks that I'm beautiful, even without the influence of the media. We're painted up to look like every guy's dream, but the truth is, aside from a flat stomach, most of what makes us attractive is given to us by a makeup team."

She watches him closely, waiting for him to do what so many guys have before him. Waiting for him to cavalierly say, "Of course you're beautiful; you're a model!" But he doesn't. Instead, he ducks his head down and unfurls his fingers, resting on his knee. Annabeth only needs a breath before she extends the tips of her fingers to his, brushing them lightly.

"I like the way your nose screws up when you laugh," he says. "And I like the way your eyes aren't really warm, because when they do look welcoming, it means that I've earned it. And you lick your lower lip and bite it after you take a sip of beer. Not sure if that goes for all drinks, but I kind of want to find out."

No, never mind. She can't breathe. She actually can't breathe at all.

"I like your glasses, and the fact that you don't dance, and the fact that you don't like looking at girls when they're naked because you don't feel the _need_ to. Most people think that we're just out there for public consumption, and we are, but the idea that we aren't is old-fashioned and I like that you think that way. I like it so much."

"The first time I saw you in a magazine, you were in a light pink bra and matching underwear and you were leaning against a bookshelf, pretending to read _Pride & Prejudice_, and I remember thinking that you were really pretty and then thinking about my BritLit teacher and wondering what you thought about the social constructs of the Regency Era."

"I drew a moustache on my roommate's poster of you after she stole my wallet for the third time. I'm really sorry about that."

"I still haven't told my mom that I broke her favorite vase. I wasn't even a kid. I was sixteen. There is literally no excuse."

"I'm studying to be an architect."

"I don't think I'm good at anything besides making music."

"I'm scared of being labelled as a slut because of my job. It's just a job to me; it's not who I am."

"I _know _I can't sing. I don't know why them let me sing on the albums. I actually only wanted to be a songwriter, and then all this stuff happened and now here I am, _performing _for a living."

"I'm also not ashamed of my job, and some people act like I should be."

"In elementary school, I accidentally got a teacher fired."

"All of my pets have been named after _Harry Potter_ characters."

"Once, I pronounced the word 'facade' wrong in a class in high school and I've never actually recovered from that moment. It's weird, because I normally don't care about seeming smart, but seeing my classmates laugh at me was the worst moment of my life."

"I'm quitting in two years. That's the plan. That was always the plan."

"I really hate my mom's ex-husband. I know that she was with him so that we would have enough money to live, but I hate him and I will never stop hating him."

"I stopped talking to Jason for four months when he blew up at me for deciding to become a model. I was _so _angry about him, and sometimes I think that he's still angry at me."

"I have a dog named Mrs. O'Leary and a cat named Blackjack and I really want you to meet them."

"I used to listen to 'Some Forevers' when I couldn't sleep."

"Fun fact: that song is about a cactus."

She's startled when he actually addresses something that she's said.

"Do you _ever _write about girls?"

He grins.

"Tell me more," he insists, taking her hands fully in his, and she does.

Annabeth speaks until she thinks that her voice is going to give out, and then Percy starts talking, telling her funny stories from his childhood and the quirks that he thinks are his weirdest and his least favorite things about himself, and Annabeth returns the favor. When they get antsy, he goes over to the piano in the corner of the room and starts playing songs for her to dance to, and Annabeth jumps up and down like a middle schooler, leaping around as he roars with laughter. And when all of her hair has tumbled down from its bun and it floating around her waistline, Percy stops playing and walks up to her, taking her hand in his and twirling her. Annabeth starts to understand that he doesn't really look at her like her past boyfriends have looked at her, and this is better. She falls into him, laughing, and it's only when they're silently swaying together that Annabeth realizes how tired she is.

"It's, like, 3 AM," she mumbles against his shoulder. "We have to go to sleep."

"Don't wanna go to sleep," he says into her hair. "Wanna stay with you."

Annabeth sighs.

"I know. Me too."

It's ridiculous, how much she wants him right now. She doesn't do one night stands, but there's a part of Annabeth that knows he would never be just that. Even if she were to sleep with him tonight, it wouldn't be the only time. But then she thinks about his world tour, and her school, and she wonders when she's ever going to have the opportunity to be with him again. Life doesn't work effortlessly like that. They just met. They can't begin a long-distance relationship _already_.

Percy, oblivious to her internal struggles, decides for her.

"I'm gonna kiss you now," he breathes into her hair. "If that's okay."

He doesn't wait for her answer; probably already knows what she would say anyways. Instead, he leans down and fits his lips carefully to hers, drawing her bottom lip into his mouth and sucking on it lightly before releasing it and watching for her reaction.

"Oh god," she moans, leaning her head on his chest. "I just realized that this is a _terrible _idea."

That's when she kisses him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into him fully. He's soft with her, but Annabeth knows that they don't have time to be soft; she wants him _gasping _before she's finished with him. She kisses him harder and lets her hands wander and, taking her cue, Percy allows his hands to wander up underneath her hoodie and travel up her back, where he lets his fingers splay out between her shoulder blades.

She only pulls away when she knows that she won't be able to stop- challenges herself to let go and sleep, to see what happens tomorrow.

"Sorry," she huffs out, letting a hand travel into his hair and tug his forehead against hers. "Sorry, I just think-"

"Don't apologize," he responds, cutting her off quickly. "I'm following your lead, okay? I want you to know that."

But his voice is still husky, and Annabeth has to ball her hands into fists to stop herself from kissing him again. She presses his lips against his forehead once, then gently pushes him away with her hands.

"See you tomorrow?" she asks. He has his eyes closed, but he nods.

"See you tomorrow."

When Annabeth looks back at Percy, he is standing in the middle of the ballroom, a crooked smile drifting across his face.

* * *

><p>Piper's angsty grumble is what wakes Annabeth up the next day. She peeks up from under her covers to see the other girl reaching for the phone, which is loudly playing a song from the new Taylor Swift album.<p>

"Make it stop," Annabeth requests, but her body begins to involuntarily wiggle around to the music anyways, which makes Piper chuckle before smacking her phone to the ground by accident and swearing loudly before she swoops down to get it and promptly falls out of bed.

"Model life," she says sarcastically. "How perfect is this?"

Annabeth turns over and sits up, yawning hugely.

"Where were you last night?" she asks as she scrubs at her eye with the heel of her hand.

"With Justin," Piper says vaguely.

"Justin?" Annabeth repeats. "Oh my god, now you're dating guys with names that sound like Jason's? Piper. I love you and this _has _to stop."

"Not _dating_," Piper reminds her, pulling herself up from the floor only so she can throw a pillow at Annabeth's head. "And why did you sleep in our hotel room when you could have been fucking Percy Jackson?" At Annabeth's surprised look, Piper sticks her tongue into her cheek and throws her arms out. "Boom!"

"I don't want to fuck Percy," says Annabeth, unable to bring herself to use his last name along with his first. He's so much more familiar to her now. He isn't Percy Jackson anymore; he's just Percy, and that makes her beam. "No, hang on, listen to me," Annabeth instructs as Piper opens her mouth to protest. "I don't want to fuck him because I know that this could actually _be _something and I didn't want to rush into it on the first night I knew him."

Piper frowns as she lifts her pajama top over her head and scouts the floor for a sports bra to put on.

"Okay, what happened last night? Last I saw, you were running away without even giving that boy a chance."

"What happened was that I realized I had the capacity to change my mind about a million times in one evening. And Percy happened to catch me when the odds were more in his favor."

"Happy _Hunger Games_ to him," Piper says drily, wiggling her hips as she pulls yesterdays jeans over her butt. Annabeth chuckles as she pulls her fuzzy socks off of her feet and then lifts herself off of the bed, stretching her arms towards the ceiling.

"That's the stuff," she says as her back curves. Piper throws a towel at her.

"Your hair looks greasy. You need a shower."

"Noted," Annabeth says, taking the towel and heading into the bathroom. Piper follows her.

"So what happened?" she presses, hopping up onto the counter and facing Annabeth. "You didn't sleep together, which I know because you were back in our room when I got in."

Annabeth turns on the water before pushing her sweatpants past her hips, recounting the details of the story to Piper as she takes off her clothes and hops into the shower. Piper asks her questions over the sound of the water that is streaming down at Annabeth, and even though it isn't the first time Piper has interrupted Annabeth's showertime in order to have a conversation, Annabeth finds herself glad to tell the story, if only to reinforce its reality to herself. She makes sure to embellish the details, wanting to separate what is real and what her brain had romanticized while she slept.

By the time she has blown out her hair and gotten dressed, the story is finished, and Piper is ready to go. Neither of them are wearing makeup as they head down to the lobby of the hotel and greet the other models, who are all waiting for the rental bus. There's coffee and a light breakfast of fruit and oatmeal, which Annabeth is grateful for because she knows that she would not be able to resist the pastries this morning. It's taking all of her willpower not to crane her neck, looking around for Percy. She just casually sips her iced coffee and half-asses her way through a conversation with a few of the younger models about the nuances of the field.

When they go to board the bus, Annabeth still hasn't seen Percy and decides that he must not be awake yet. Given the fact that he doesn't have to have every inch of his skin scoured for stray hairs, Annabeth doesn't know why she's surprised. The girls are the ones that are spending the day getting every piece of them painted, plucked, and pulled on. Most of them are excited. Annabeth, however, is thinking about the finals that she has to return to upon the completion of the fashion show.

At least there's loud music playing while the hairdressers and makeup artists go to work. After the models have a quick meeting with the producers of the fashion show and try on their costumes one more time, they settle into their chairs and begin the beautification process. Luckily, half of this is about relaxing the girls. Loud pump up music is being played from the speakers as they get their nails painted, but during the facial peels, they go for popular ballads that don't necessarily make them want to dance. Even though Annabeth has everything to be nervous about, she's pretty prepared by the time evening hits and the girls can hear the first buzzes of the audience filling the auditorium.

What she's not prepared for is Percy walking into the dressing room and striding right past her.

She's dressed in her first costume, a black bra with polka dots that is designed to look sheer. It's for the superhero set, so she'll have a matching shield later, which Annabeth thinks is pretty cool. And she wants to tell Percy about it, too, because last night he had told her that his favorite Avenger was Captain America. But when he speeds right by her, nodding briefly in her direction before going to say hello to Lexi.

"Well," Piper says, coming up behind Annabeth. "Um. That was weird."

"It was definitely weird," Annabeth says, bringing up her thumbnail to bite it. Piper catches her just in time and slaps her hand away. "Thanks."

"No problem," says Piper, still squinting off in Percy's direction. "What is he doing?" she wonders, softening her voice.

"Maybe I misinterpreted something last night?" Annabeth responds, knowing that it's not true. She definitely hadn't misinterpreted anything. Unless… unless he was lying the whole time.

"I'm going to go find out," Piper says decisively, starting to walk past Annabeth, put Annabeth grabs the back of her deep purple bra and drags her back, releasing it quickly and snapping it against Piper's back when the other model begins to protest.

"No. Don't do anything. Just… leave it."

"But-!"

"Shut up, Piper," Annabeth growls, narrowing her eyes. "This is bad enough without you interfering."

"If they hadn't gotten us deep tissue massages earlier today, I would already be physically attacking him right now."

"I know, sweetie. I know."

"Little fucker."

"Shhh, Piper. Go sniff a scented candle."

"Which flavor?"

"Any flavor, sweetie."

Piper stalks off in the opposite direction, turning around to glower at Percy over her shoulder every few seconds. Purposefully, Annabeth turns away from him, heading back towards the mirrors to re-tape herself into her bra, just in case. She's a big girl, and she has thick skin. Right now, she needs to concentrate on the show. If need be, she can feel emotions later.

She wanders into the smaller green room meant for the younger models and hangs out with them for a while, dancing to their sugary pop music and trying to soak up their excitement. For many of them, this is their first nationally televised event. It's nerve wracking, but a lot of them are just trying to enjoy it and get into character. Despite the fact that the job can seem difficult at times, all of the models know how lucky they are. They do. Their career is fun, and the only price is partial nudity, which isn't really that bad when you're as confident about your body as many of the girls Annabeth spends her days with.

Percy still hasn't spoken to her by the time the show starts. Annabeth waits backstage and watches as he wishes all of the models luck, but he barely looks at her as he passes her to go to his waiting area, where he will be hanging out with the female artist who he is splitting the event with.

It's almost impossible not to flip him off when he doesn't even bother to wish her well, but Annabeth manages to restrain herself. She'll kill him after they've filmed the fashion show. There's really no reason to ruin it for the rest of the girls and the audience. Besides, she's wearing an expensive bra, and Annabeth doesn't want to get the blood of an idiot on the soft fabric.

The show starts with one of the older models making her way out onto the stage. She might be one of the most experienced, but Annabeth also thinks that she's one of the most exotically and naturally beautiful of all of them. She applauds loudly as the woman makes her way onto stage.

"Break a leg," Piper says sweetly, wrapping her arms around Annabeth from behind her and plopping a purposefully wet kiss on her cheek.

"Is your dad in the audience?"

"Mhmm."

"Break his leg, then."

Piper laughs.

"Will fucking do, Annabeth Chase," she says before winking and strutting onto stage.

She moves through the show easily enough. It's not Annabeth's first time, and it's not like it's live, so she just gets through it and knows that they'll cut anything embarrassing out of the show before it airs. But she doesn't mess up, not even when she passes Percy on the runway. She smiles easily at him and he smiles shakily in return, and then she blows the audience a kiss and they're applauding to the beat of Percy's soft music and Annabeth just wants to change into her last costume so that the show can end so that she can go home and eat pasta and give herself roughly fifteen minutes of pity while Piper pats her on the shoulder and grants her with some rare singing.

That's what she wants.

She stands as far away from Percy as possible during the bows, and he doesn't seem to notice, just grins his sheepish grin and waves at the audience. Annabeth takes a long time to change out of her costume and into her dress for the second after-party in the last two days, mostly because she's got a zillion hairpins stuck in her hair and she's desperate to get them all out before she leaves.

She's not finished when everyone else leaves, so Annabeth lets them all go on without her. Piper is in the bathroom anyways, scrubbing off her makeup and applying a new look onto her face, and Annabeth has piano music playing quietly from her iPhone.

"You weren't kidding when you said you liked this cover," says Percy's voice, and Annabeth doesn't even look around to see him standing there.

"You've been avoiding me," she says starkly, wincing as a bobby pin gets stuck ion her hair.

Percy comes right up behind her and studies her for a second before reaching into her hair and gently tugging out a bobby pin. He throws it onto the table with the others and then looks at her in the mirror, frowning at the annoyed look on Annabeth's face.

"I thought you wouldn't notice."

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"No!" he says quickly. "I just… I thought you would understand, if you did notice, so I didn't talk to you about it beforehand."

Annabeth turns around and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Understand what?" she asks cooly.

"Well, first off, all I wanted to do the entire day today was be with you, and I knew that people would notice. I didn't know if I would be able to drag myself away from you if I started talking to you. I thought about you all night. I didn't even sleep."

She doesn't smile, which causes him to keep talking.

"And, also, you know… I didn't want… spoilers."

"What?" Annabeth spits out, her voice much more derisive than she'd intended.

"I've seen you in your bra and underwear before, but now it's like… now it's like there's a chance that I could see you like that when it's just the two of us, and I didn't want… spoilers."

"That is so fucking ridiculous, Percy."

"It's gonna be awesome later, I promise you."

"How do you know there's going to be a later?"

"Mostly 'cause you're starting to smile and your eyes keep flicking to my lips."

Annabeth tries to cover her smile with her mouth, but it just gets bigger.

"Dammit!" she bursts out, making Percy laugh. She watches him throw his head back in the mirror, his skin glowing from the soft lighting. "That made perfect sense, you asshole."

"I know," he smirks. He gets closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Annabeth," he says, looking her dead in the eyes. "I want to get to a place with you where I bring you home to meet my mom. So I don't care how we go about doing that- I just want it to happen."

"Well," she says, studying his face carefully. "There's a few things that need to occur before we can even think about that happening."

"Like?"

"Like… I need to give you my number."

"Oh yeah. That's very important."

"And I need to take down the moustache poster of you that I have in my bedroom."

"Uh-"

"Kidding."

"Are you?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Come on, doofus. Piper is waiting."

He holds her hand as they walk out of the dressing room.

* * *

><p>Madison Square Garden has 18,200 seats in it, and Percy Jackson has filled them all.<p>

Annabeth, Piper, and Jason stare down at him from their positions in one of the VIP boxes and try not to be overwhelmed by the amount of people he's playing to. It's the biggest crowd he's ever sold, and the three of them had been huddled around Annabeth's phone during the first opening act, trying to say anything they could to comfort him. In the end, Annabeth had ended up giving up on the phone and had headed backstage to comfort her boyfriend. A few people had recognized her, but she's usually able to slip in under the radar wherever she goes.

If anything, people are recognizing her more than ever now that she's Percy Jackson's girlfriend.

He's okay now, she thinks. He's sitting alone on stage, bathed in a circle of light and seated on a stool with his guitar. She can't detect any shake in his hands, and he's not tapping his fingers against the guitar, which is a nervous tick he usually has when he's talking to the audience. He's playing off of them well, actually, and Annabeth finds herself beaming at him from where she sits.

"He's amazing," Sally says, leaning closer to the railing and letting her prideful smile fill her face. "I can't believe he can do stuff like this."

"Me either," Annabeth admits. "Singing in public isn't either of our fortes, though, Mrs. Jackson."

They laugh.

"Percy told me he's been trying to teach you piano, though," says Sally. "Do you think you'll go up on stage with him someday?"

"Absolutely not," Annabeth promises as Jason and Piper laugh. "He's only been teaching me for the last six months and I can already tell that I'm no… him." She side-eyes Piper and Jason as he places a kiss on her cheek, then her lips. They're going on two months and Annabeth could not be more nauseated by how in love they are.

They tell her that it's hypocritical, but Annabeth doesn't think that she and Percy were _ever_ so bad.

From down on stage, Percy is strumming a few random chords on his guitar.

"So," he says, abruptly placing his hands over the strings to stop them from making any more noise. "I'm going to overshare right now, and it's because I kind of can't help it. So, as a lot of you know because the paparazzi is ruthless in New York… I'm in love right now. Like, really stupidly, head-over-heels in love, and she thinks I'm a doofus because every time she kisses me I get a new idea for a song, but… these past few months have been some of the best songwriting months of my life. And recently, I wrote a new one that I wanted to share with you. So… yeah. I'm gonna play it now."

He gets up and walks over to the piano, then starts playing a melody that Annabeth has never heard before. Usually, he doesn't need to read music to play his songs, so this one must be extremely new, Annabeth thinks.

"It's beautiful," Sally whispers to her. "Isn't it?"

"Gorgeous," Annabeth agrees as Percy starts to sing in his low, slightly scratchy voice.

Midway through the song, Piper turns to Annabeth.

"Is he proposing?" she asks, unnerved.

"What?" laughs Annabeth. "No. No way."

"This kind of sounds like the kind of song that ends with the words 'will you marry me,'" says Jason, patting Annabeth on the shoulder. "Congrats, friend."

"He's _not _proposing."

"Maybe he found out that you're pregnant," Sally suggests.

"I'm pregnant?" Annabeth squeaks.

"Kidding," Sally says with a sly smile. "I'm sure he's not going to propose, dear. Nobody in Hollywood ever gets married too early, after all."

"He has said the word 'key' several times," Jason tells them. "Maybe he's asking you to move in with him."

Annabeth lets out a sigh of relief.

"That, I can work with."

"And you'd better be prepared to work with the baby thing too," Piper says knowingly. "OK Magazine said that he wants five kids in five years."

"Shut up, Pipes."

"Shutting up," she mocks, saluting.

Annabeth closes her eyes and gets lost in the music that is Percy Jackson.


End file.
